The T&T teams of Pauline Woodroffe and Elki Phillip (women) and Colin Bernard and Fabien Whitfield (men) had a tournament to forget as they finished second from last in their respective divisions when the sixth leg of the Norceca Beach Volleyball Circuit concluded in Mexico, on Sunday.
Following a 0-3 start to their five-team round-robin pool on Friday, Woodroffe and Phillip went under to Costa Ricans, Katherine Quesada and Eugenia Ramirez, 15-21, 13-21 to end bottom of the group with a 0-4 record.
This was followed by a 13-21, 3-21 against Mexico-B, Haydee Lopez and Pamela Aguirre in their playoff quarterfinal for ninth to 16th spot which resulted in a 12th placed finish, just ahead of fellow winless team, Honduras.
On Friday, the T&T women were beaten by Traci Weamer and Allison Fleming (USA-2) 11-21, 8-21; Mexico-3 pairing Vanessa Virgen and Stephanie Burnside by a 4-21, 16-21 margin and Canada-1 duo, Melissa Humana and Taylor Pishcke, 12-21, 7-21.
The winner of the gold medal was Mexico's Martha Vuelta and Bibi Canales who defeated Canada-A duo of Humana and Pishcke 23-21, 21-18.
In the semifinals, Vuelta and Canales defeated USA-A Heather Hughes and Lane Carico 21-15, 21-19 while Pishcke and Humana stopped Weamer and Flemming 24-22, 21-19.
Hughes and Carico got some redemption in the bronze medal match with a 24-22, 21-19 win over Weamer and Flemming.
Bernard and Whitfield were equally disappointing as they ended in 15th spot after losing all five of their matches.
They were beaten by Mexico-3's Ulises Ontiveros and Salvador Frias, 14-21, 14-21; and Mexico-2 pairing Juan Revuelta and Ricardo Galindo, 16-21, 18-2 on Friday and then defaulted against USA-1 duo Wil Montgomery and James Drost, 0-21, 0-21 before going under to Costa Ricans Esteban Escobar and Jonathan Guevara, 15-21, 11-21 in their ninth to 16th quarterfinal.
Mexico also took gold in the men's series with Juan Virgen and Lombardo Ontiveros getting the better of Canada-A pair, Grant O'Gorman and Sam Pedlow in three tough sets, 21-18, 15-21, 15-13.
In the semis, Virgen and Ontiveros overcame Puerto Rico-B players Victor Rivera and Erik Haddock by default due to illness while O'Gorman and Pedlow dumped Puerto Rico-A Roberto Rodriguez and Hector Soto 22-20, 21-19.
On Saturday, in the quarters Rivera-Haddock breezed to a comfortable 21-12, 21-19 victory over Juan Revuelta and Ricardo Galindo of Mexico-B, but Rodriguez-Soto prevailed in a three-set marathon match with Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter of Canada-B, 21-18, 31-33, 15-12.
Ontiveros/Virgen outdueled Kevin McColloch and Derek Olson of USA-B 21-12, 22-24, 15-13 while O'Gorman-Pedlow registered a 21-13, 21-13 win over Ulises Ontiveros and Salvador Fr�as of Mexico-C.
?